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2016 July 6 - 12 TOP3 [POLITICS]

2 sitting ministers lose in Okinawa and Fukushima voting districts

Two joint candidates of opposition parties in Okinawa and Fukushima beat Liberal Democratic Party sitting ministers, achieving a victory in the House of Councilors election on July 10. Opposition parties’ united candidates won seats in 11 out of 32 single-seat constituencies.

Tanabe Ken’ichi, the only Japanese Communist Party candidate jointly backed by opposition parties, failed to secure a seat in the Kagawa constituency. However, he increased the number of votes to 104,239, accounting for 26.1% of the total vote cast in the district, from 34,602 or 8.3% in the previous election in 2013.

In the Okinawa constituency, Iha Yoichi (independent) defeated Minister for Okinawa and Northern Territories Affairs Shimajiri Akiko. Iha said, “I will strongly urge the Abe government to abandon the plan to build a new U.S. base in Henoko. Looking back on the election campaign, he added, “Okinawans have been bearing base burdens for 71 years. Without taking into consideration our longtime suffering, both the Japanese and U.S. administrations still try to impose another base on us. Many Okinawans are very angry.”

The JCP in the campaign supported Iha. JCP member of the House of Representatives Akamine Seiken said, “No matter how consistently Okinawans oppose, no matter how desperately Governor Onaga Takeshi struggles, the Abe government always maneuvers to squash our resolution to oppose the new base. The election result in Okinawa, I think, has shown Okinawans’ strong determination to continue fighting until Tokyo gives up on the new base plan.”

Regarding Iha’s victory in the Okinawa district, Governor Onaga Takeshi on July 11 at a session of the prefectural assembly said, “I hope the central government will sincerely listen to our voices as expressed in this election yet again.” The governor began his comments by saying, “The candidate who I supported won with a large margin.” Given the outcome of the gubernatorial and Lower House elections two years ago and the Okinawa prefectural assembly election in June this year in addition to the election this time, the governor said, “The majority of Okinawans are obviously supporting my position,” which is for the closure of the U.S. Futenma base, opposition to the new base in Henoko, withdrawal of the Osprey deployment in Okinawa, and a drastic review of the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA).

In the Fukushima constituency, Mashiko Teruhiko (Democratic Party) beat Justice Minister Iwaki Mitsuhide. During the campaign, Mashiko promised Fukushima voters that he will implement people-oriented recovery measures from the 2011 nuclear disaster as well as push for the decommissioning of all ten nuclear reactors in Fukushima.

Past related articles:
> JCP member becomes joint opposition candidate in Kagawa [May 28, 2016]
> Pro-governor political parties gain majority in Okinawa prefectural assembly election [June 7, 2016]
> JCP increases its seats to 21 from 8 seats in general election [December 15, 2014]
> Anti-base candidate’s victory in Okinawa governor race delivers blow to Abe [November 17 and 18, 2014]